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Scotlandsfest 2019: What lies beyond our skies? A collision of science and art

  • Quaker Meeting House 7 Victoria Terrace Edinburgh United Kingdom (map)

Part of ScotlandsFest 2019, a week-long festival of stimulating conversation, readings and debate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. For more information and the full programme, please visit www.luath.co.uk/scotlandsfest-2019.

What is Scotland's contribution to astronomy? Astronomer Royal for Scotland John C Brown discusses stars of Scottish astronomy such as James Clerk Maxwell, the dark skies movement, the latest discoveries and the creative interplay between science and the arts, using magic to explain the science behind the phenomenon. His co-author of Oor Big Braw Cosmos and National Trust for Scotland Scriever in Residence Rab Wilson performs cosmic poetry in Scots.

JOHN C BROWN is Professor Emeritus at the University of Glasgow and has been Astronomer Royal for Scotland (ARfS) since 1995. In astronomy research he has published around 300 papers and won the 2012 Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal. His 2016 OBE was for 'services to promotion of astronomy and science education'.

RAB WILSON is one of Scotland's most accomplished poets. His poetry in Scots is distinguished by its oral quality and by its technical assurance. The author of a number of highly praised volumes of poetry, he is also a Burns scholar. He is the Scriever in Residence for the National Trust for Scotland based at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayr.

Tickets are £5/£3 conc and are available from the Scotlandsfest event page here.